Thursday, December 30, 2010

Of course, I have never been through a real earthquake. But I have felt 3 small ones. The first one was several years ago when I still lived with my parents. Mom and I were in the kitchen getting dinner and the house started to shake. We looked at each other and then ran outside. We both thought the furnace was getting ready to explode. All our neighbors were also running outside but the next door neighbors, who had been working in the yard, didn't feel anything.

The next one I remember was only a couple years ago. I think it happened about 4:00am and it woke me up. I remember the glass candle holder on my dresser making tinkly glass noises and the whole bed shaking.

The one this morning was minor. Again, I was in bed, sitting up and getting ready to start my day. The dog slept through it but all the cats were on the bed with me and their ears all flattened back and they looked around and at me in alarm. It only lasted a few seconds and when I checked with Mom and Kevin, neither had felt it. Apparently, there was a 4.2 earthquake in Kokomo! Pretty decent size for this area.

According to http://earthquake.usgs.gov, Indiana has had a few notable earthquakes:

1827 Jul 5 11:30 4.8M Intensity VINear New Harmony, Indiana ( 38.0N 87.5W )The earthquake cracked a brick store at New Harmony, Ind., and greatly alarmed some people. It was described as violent at New Madrid, Mo., and severe at St. Louis. It also alarmed many at Cincinnati, Ohio, and Frankfort, Ky.

1887 Feb 6 22:15 4.6M Intensity VINear Vincennes, Indiana ( 38.7N 87.5W )This shock was strongest in southwest Indiana and southeast Illinois. Plaster was shaken from walls at Vincennes, Ind., and west of Terre Haute, at Martinsville, Ill.; a cornice reportedly fell from a building at Huntington, Ind. It was felt distinctly at Evansville, Ind., but only slightly in the outskirts of St. Louis, Mo. Also reported felt at Louisville, Ky.

1891 Jul 27 02:28 4.1M Intensity VIEvansville, Indiana ( 37.9N 87.5W )A strong local earthquake damaged a wall on a hotel, broke dishes, and overturned furniture at Evansville. The shock also was strong near Evansville at Mount Vernon and Newburgh, Ind., and at Hawesville, Henderson, and Owensboro, Ky.

1909 Sep 27 09:45 5.10M Intensity VIIWabash River Valley, near Terre Haute, IndianaAt Terre Haute (Vigo County), two chimneys were thrown down, plaster was cracked, and pictures were shaken from walls. At Covington, north of Terre Haute in Fountain County, a few chimneys were downed and windows were broken. Chimneys were "jarred loose" south of Vincennes at Princeton, Indiana, one chimney was shaken to pieces at Olivette, Missouri (a suburb of St. Louis), and a brick wall was shaken down at St. Louis, Missouri. Also reported felt in Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee.

1925 Apr 27 04:05 4.8M Intensity VIWabash River valley, near Princeton, Indiana ( 38.2N 87.8W )Chimneys were downed at Princeton and at Carmi, Ill., 100 km southwest; chimneys were broken at Louisville, Ky. Crowds fled from the theaters at Evansville, Ind. The felt area includes parts of Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, and Ohio.

If you noticed that many of these seem to have been in the southern part of the state, you're right. Why? The New Madrid Fault Line and the Wabash Valley Fault Zone. The New Madrid Zone is not in Indiana, but is close enough to cause trouble should there be a large earthquake there. The Wabash Valley Zone is in southern Indiana and Illinois.

"The New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812 rank as some of the largest in the United States since its settlement by Europeans. They were by far the largest east of the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. and Canada. The area of strong shaking associated with these shocks is two to three times as large as that of the 1964 Alaska earthquake and 10 times as large as that of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Because there were no seismographs in North America at that time, and very few people in the New Madrid region, the estimated magnitudes of this series of earthquakes vary considerably and depend on modern researchers' interpretations of journals, newspaper reports, and other accounts of the ground shaking and damage." [I added the italics. :)]

So last night I dragged all the wrapping stuff downstairs so I could wrap the gifts I have purchased so far and get them under the tree. And I had helpers. Five helpers, to be exact, though Indy didn't stay long.

First of all, I kept having to shoo Oona away from one of the bags, so I picked it up to see what was in there and it was the cat and dog presents - rawhide candy cane, crinkly sparkly things, and catnip mice. Aha! Catnip mice! So I took the bag into the dining room and poured everything out onto the dresser there and started taking off big tags and packaging so I could put them in the stockings (Logan has his own and the kitties share).

As soon as I was done putting the items in the stockings and taking the trash away, Indy and Oona were on the dresser sniffing the dresser. Then Oona jumped on Indy and put her teeth around Indy's neck and just stood there for a minute, and then both cats jumped down. Indy did a strange sideways crooked pounce at Yoshi before running away, and Oona tore off into the basement. So... catnip maybe not such a good idea? We'll see on Christmas morning.

I also had a bag with chocolate, pretzels, and marshmallows in it - yes, it's a Christmas gift - and the cats then became interested in that. I decided no amount of packaging was going to keep the items safe, so back upstairs it went. I just hope we don't forget to take it with us to the gift exchange!

Of course the cats had to walk on the wrapping paper, but since we got rid of the carpet and have hardwood floors, they did not tear through the paper with their paws. Yoshi kept launching himself into plastic bags and getting his head stuck in the handles, and then he decided to climb the tree and hang out for a while. Dylan kept walking into the container holding the tissue paper and boxes, and I kept having to remove him.

Anytime I had to remove a cat and would say "No," Logan would come to hover at my side with sad puppy eyes, wanting to make sure I was okay and not mad at him. So I kept having to tell him to go lay down. Did I mention my darling husband was upstairs laughing at my emotional distress?

Then when I went to put the wrapped presents under the tree, three cats decided it was time to go under the tree. I would remove Dylan and turn back and there would be Yoshi. I would remove Yoshi and turn back and there would be Oona. I would remove Oona and turn back and Yoshi would be trying to climb the tree. Etc. Finally I was like, "Everyone get back!" They did scatter at that point, if only for a few moments.

When Kevin came down I suggested moving a set of glass candle holders we had received as a wedding present, as they stood under the cat stocking and I just had a feeling. Good thing, too, because this morning when Kevin got up and went downstairs, they had knocked the stocking down, along with its heavy metal holder. He didn't know if they'd removed anything from it, but he stuffed everything he could see back in and hung it back up. So maybe we need to remove the catnip until Christmas day.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Monday, September 13, 2010

I still can't figure out what it means, so I am going to take it apart piece by piece.

"Relying on your past experience using libraries for yourself do you find yourself using a particular classification the more familiar you got with that collection the more comfortable your find yourself, maybe there is more than one collection for you?"

"Relying on your past experience using libraries for yourself..."

Okay, I got that. When I have used libraries before...

"do you find yourself using a particular classification..."

Like Dewey or Library of Congress, you mean? As I use a public library, it would have to be Dewey. I find myself using the Dewey classification system because that's all there is. But what if she means fiction or nonfiction? Still not sure.

"the more familiar you got with that collection the more comfortable your find yourself..."

The more comfortable your find yourself. First of all, it should be you. That drives me bonkers. I can't handle the typos!

So the more familiar I am with using it, the more comfortable I am. Makes sense.

"maybe there is more than one collection for you?"

Huh? Now we're talking about collections. Like fiction or fairy tales or romance. Did she mean to say earlier do I find myself using a particular collection, not classification? Because that would make a lot more sense. Even so, do I find myself using a collection and becoming more comfortable with it and maybe there is more than one collection for me?

Sunday, September 12, 2010

This is one of my questions for this week's class. Can someone please tell me what the question is?

"Relying on your past experience using libraries for yourself do you find yourself using a particular classification the more familiar you got with that collection the more comfortable your find yourself, maybe there is more than one collection for you?"

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Okay, so I am totally a crazy cat lady, but I was in the kitchen today and Yoshi had followed me and I noticed he was sitting beautifully in a patch of sunlight and I wanted a picture. So I ran out and got my camera and for the next half hour while the sun moved across the floor, I took pictures of Dylan, Yoshi, and Oona. Indy did not join in and I took some of Logan, but he was not in shadow (plus, he's a dog). So I made this little slideshow of it because I think they actually turned out kind of cool! :)

Monday, August 23, 2010

We librarian I's have to take these three classes through Ivy Tech to retain our status. It's me and Kim from Children's, who started after 2008, and poor Jon, who for some reason was not grandfathered in.

Getting into this class has been a nightmare from the get-go. We were informed in April we had to take these classes and the first one would be starting in August. So in June I sent an email to our training manager asking when we needed to register for classes and she said soon because classes would fill up.

I went later that week to register for the class, but even registering was not as simple as it might seem. Before I could register for the class, I had to apply to get in. I went to the online application form and tried filling it out. It wanted to know my name and address, no problem. Then it asked where I went to high school, still doing all right. Then it wanted to know when I graduated. I put in 1989, but that was not good enough. It wanted the exact month and day of the week. So I had to call my old school and have them look in their files to see when I graduated. Filled that in.

It did the same thing with my college. So I had to call and find out exactly what date I graduated from college. Okay. Then it wanted to know what my degree was in. I looked over their drop down list, but my degree - Bachelor of General Studies - was not there. I called IPFW's department of General Studies to see what school General Studies fell in, like Bachelor of Arts, etc. She said it was it's own completely separate degree and didn't fall under anything else. So I called Ivy Tech to find out what I should select, because God forbid I should not get accepted because I lied on my application!

The woman I got on the phone had only been working there for four days. The woman I needed to speak with was not there. So I left my name and number and question and asked that she call me back.

An hour later she called. She wanted to know what degree program I was going into. I told her I was taking library science classes but it was not for a degree. She said that would be under Library Technician. I explained again what I needed to know and she told me to just pick anything and that would be okay. And apparently it was because I got an acceptance letter in the mail a few days later.

I went to register for the class with my new username and password. Then I found out that before I could register I had to go take this Compass Test. Luckily not the math part, but still. Ugh. So I went in to take the test. When I got there the guy asked me if I had taken the test before. I said no. He asked if I was sure because there were scores under my name in the computer. I said I would have had no reason to take the test. He asked again if I was sure because the scores were good (implying a blasé "why bother taking it again, just use these random scores that somehow ended up in your file").

After assuring him that I had never taken the test, he got me signed in. He then told me just because there were random scores in my file did not mean there was a problem with the system. O-kay.

So I went to take the test. Under surveillance from a video camera. With no water. Because I might hide the answers in my water bottle or something. I am disappointed that I did not get 100%, but the problem is I get bored easily and then get distracted, so toward the end I was not paying very good attention to the questions. But I got like 97/94 or something on the two parts we had to take. (Jon got a better score than me, but I expected he would - he's brainy that way.)

After that I came back to work to register for the class. After dinking around on their horrible website and finally finding the place to register, I discovered the class was full and it would not allow me to put my name on a waiting list.

I dashed off an email to our training manager informing her of the situation and asking what we should do at this point. Weeks passed and nothing happened. Finally, with school starting the next week, I sent off another email and we heard back that our training manager had put several calls in to Ivy Tech and had not gotten a response, so she'd gone to the registration page and discovered 9 more slots had been added at some point. So I was able to register for the class that I did not want to take and had already jumped through hoops to get into.

I paid for the class I did not want to take with my husband's credit card. $433. The amount will be reimbursed by the library after I finish the course, so the amount gets to accrue interest and that does not get reimbursed. Good plan.

That was last week. I waited for my payment receipt to come to my email, but nothing arrived. Then I realized, I bet they're going to send it to my Ivy Tech account. When I checked there, lo and behold the receipt was in my inbox, along with 53 other emails which I quickly discovered had absolutely nothing to do with me or my class.

So I waited until the end of the week for class information to arrive. Now that I knew the secret of the Ivy Tech inbox, I was sure that is where explanations about where to go next would arrive.

But nothing did.

I sent a reply to the email address which had sent my receipt, asking if they could direct me to the proper place. I got a canned response that basically said, "Don't write to us here and find your own phone number." I scanned the website. I went to the department page for information, a contact number, something. I went to the Student Services page. I went anywhere it would logically be. Nothing.

So the first day of school arrived and I still had no clue what I was supposed to do. So I went back into my account and clicked on various things and eventually found my way to the blackboard, because I knew Kevin had posted stuff to the blackboard for his classes. There was a welcome message from the teacher. There were instructions about clicking on the syllabus link to find the course outline. But where was the syllabus link? I could not find it. Sure wasn't on the page where the instructions were. I eventually found it after clicking around.

Now I see there are already messages posted there. The only one I have read so far is from someone who likes wolves and doesn't have any children because she doesn't like them. So does this mean our first post is supposed to be sharing something about ourselves? I DON'T FREAKIN KNOW! I've read through all the syllabus, class session stuff, introductory messages, etc, and part of the instructions say I am to go to the discussion page and read the instructions on what the assignment is, but I don't see an assignment anywhere! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I cannot express to you how much I already hate this class, and it's only day one. But how much I hate this class is nothing compared to how much I hate Ivy Tech. The only website I have navigated through that was less user friendly is the State of Indiana's! AUGH!

So now I will go back to my little class thing and see if I can find directions anywhere. If you hear screaming, you'll know it's me.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

You know when you're trying to look up a book in the library's catalog, and you're typing in Football Camp and nothing comes up so you put in the author's name instead and finally, finally you find it way down in the list and then you go online and try to get an image of the cover but nothing is coming up under the name and then you look again and it actually says Football Champ and not Football Camp? I hate that.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Beware. Kittens and puppies now have advanced Sucker Radar. No longer do they have to wait until you're within walking distance of them to pop out and look at you with big, sad eyes. Now they can do it when you're half a block away and in your car.

Meet the newest member of our family: Unnamed Kitten.

Unnamed Kitten was running across a busy street as I was on my way home last night, and I couldn't let him get squished by a car. So I picked him up and called Kevin and said, "How would you feel about having a fourth cat?" Kevin did some cursing and grumbling and effectively said No Way. So I said I would take Unnamed Kitten to the ASPCA on my way to work the next morning.

I got home and Kevin held the kitten while I unloaded my stuff. When I reached to take the kitten back to put him in the bathroom, away from the other pets, Kevin would not give him up. "He's so cute," his eyes said. I finally got the kitten and took him upstairs. We gave him part of a can of cat food and he gobbled it down. I created a makeshift little litter box and we got him a small bowl of water and a towel to sleep on. Kevin started talking about what we could name him.

So we waffled. Kevin did some online research on what kind of cat he was and if four cats was too many. (Seriously.) I was wrestling with fate - brown tabby cat just like our others... saw him on my way home on a route I never take... turned on the tv when I got home and the first thing I saw was a commercial from the SPCA saying "Save an animal today!"

I said, "Stephanie at work has four cats." We got to the vet this morning to see if Unnamed Kitten was diseased and a woman in the waiting room said she had just rescued a kitten over the weekend and that would make her fourth cat. The vet said she had four cats and a dog. Fate was pushing us hard.

And Kevin kept coming up with possible names. General. Colonel. Patton. Orion. Tiki. Conrad. I can't even remember them all anymore. And I came up with some. Simon. Zed. Philo. (I like nerdy names for cats.)

Edith, Chelle, Roger and I went to Mongo last weekend for a little campfire cooking and a boat trip. It was lovely and very relaxing! Edith and I took individual kayaks and Chelle and Roger shared a canoe.

Pictures:

Back at the campsite we toured Dad's "tipi" - complete with fireplace mantel with a picture of Richard Nixon on it (he says as a conversation starter):

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Certainly not what you think. This is a marvelous book that was received for the YA room at the branch where I work. At first, I hated it. I tried to pawn it off on our children's librarian, but she wanted nothing to do with it. We are going to send it to the Main Library, and as the time comes for it to leave, I am becoming very attached to it.

What's Up with Bridget's Mom is a comic about breast cancer. Seriously.

The art work is terrible. The plot? I'll let you decide. The superhero team needs to get inside Bridget's mom's breast to see what's going on, so they go in through a milk duct and are swept away on waves of milk and surrounded by miniature cows, some of whom are wearing leather jackets and eyepatches. Yes. It is just that brilliant.

I am including some pages lest you think I am making this up.

The cover:

My favorite pages... The heroes have made it to the top of the breast. They try to peek inside. How will we get in? Through the milk ducts!

First panel: Splash! There go the heroes, swirling on waves of milk! Note the mini cows at the bottom of the picture.

I only wish I could blow these up for you so you could experience the full joy.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Have you been keeping up with the psychic octopus, Paul, who lives in Germany and has been predicting the outcomes of the World Cup games? He has now achieved a 100% accurate prediction rate for the World Cup 2010. Paul has become so popular that German television is now putting his predictions on-air, live, with two reporters giving commentary.

Paul recently provoked hostility in South America after predicting that Argentina would lose to Germany. Some folks even threatened to kill Paul and put him in a paella. The newspaper El Dia offered a recipe for any Argentine patriots who managed to capture Paul: "All you need is four normal potatoes, olive oil for taste and a little pepper."

How does Paul make his predictions? His keepers put mussels into two glass cubes, with each cube having one of the competing nations' flags on the front. Whichever mussel Paul chooses first is taken as his prediction. But this is not the first time Paul has predicted sports outcomes. His psychic abilities were tested during the UEFA Euro 2008 soccer championship when he was proven correct in 80% of predictions made.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

The amputee cat has a new spring in his step, thanks to some high-tech prosthetic paws.

photo_1277460266138-6-1.jpgAfter Oscar the cat suffered a terrible accident and lost both of his back paws, his owners thought their beloved feline friend wouldn't survive. But thanks to a revolutionary operation, not only was he saved but he's healthy, happy and back on all four paws again.

The operation, the first of its kind in the world saw veterinary surgeon, Noel Fitzpatrick from Surrey attach high-tech custom-made prosthetic paws to Oscar's ankles, during a three-hour operation, reports BBC News. The cutting edge implants, known as ITAP (intraosseous transcutaneous amputation prosthetics) combine engineering mechanics with biology and if little Oscar is anything to go by, the successful operation could lead to amazing work in the field of human prosthetics too.

Irish-born Fitzpatrick, who is soon to be featured in a BBC television show, The Bionic Vet worked with Professor Gordon Blunn, at University College London to develop the prosthetics and they couldn't be happier with the results. Watching his patient walking around freely, just days after the groundbreaking procedure, he said with a smile: "Oscar has made medical history!" Having lost his paws after a traumatic accident with a combine harvester, the cat will now have to stay indoors but it's a small price to pay considering the extent of his injuries. "I can't tell you how good it feels to keep him alive," the ecstatic surgeon said.

It's a heartwarming, simply puuurrrfect story! Let's hope it leads to even more life-saving operations.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Marra, the children's librarian at the branch, and I are doing a cake decorating program tomorrow. Marra managed to get her hands on a giant, 28~pound bucket of frosting. This is us posing with the frosting. :)

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Friday, June 4, 2010

American composer and conductor Eric Whitacre spliced together nearly 250 submitted YouTube videos to form an online choir performing “Lux Arumque,” and then posted the assembled piece on YouTube.

Whitacre and producer Scott Haines used social media — his blog, a Facebook page and YouTube — to assemble and audition singers for his piece. He sent the sheet music out so people could submit videos featuring them singing individual parts. He then sifted through the videos and edited the audio parts together to form a very professional-sounding choir.

For the video, he visualized the choir in a 3D, virtual array of living rooms and bedrooms, with him standing in the middle conducting. You probably haven’t seen anything quite like it before.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

What is with the wretched, horrible, disgusting, ridiculous-looking wig sitting on top of Jake Gyllenhaal's doofus head in the new movie Prince of Persia? Is his pet raccoon who, sadly, has died of heat stroke and Jake's character thinks it has just settled on for a nap?

Really, I have a hard time telling these two apart - which one is Jake?

Monday, May 31, 2010

I keep seeing this commercial for Knight and Day, which is, first of all, a stupid name for a movie (or a book ~ I hate it when they try to make characters interesting by giving them stupid names like that) and seeing Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz running around being all adventurous and listening to that horrible cheesy music that I think is supposed to be part of the soundtrack but sounds like something from the early 1980s (maybe Footloose?) and I can't help but wonder ~ does anyone still like Tom Cruise?

For me, I think he peaked with Mission Impossible ~ the first one. I never saw Top Gun. I went to see Days of Thunder because it was a double feature with Ghost, which is the movie I really wanted to see all along. I will admit I did like Born on the Fourth of July, and The Firm was fun. But I was already starting to become annoyed by that shiny thing he does with his eyes to express strong emotion. I did not go see The Last Samurai because he was in it, and I still think it would have been that much better with someone else in the lead role.

But he's still making beaucoup bucks, so there must be lots of people out there who disagree with me. Opinions?

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Woman 1 - Did you hear about Souder?Woman 2 - I laughed so hard I nearly pee'd my pants!

So I am not the only one feeling the joy.

I have an article from the Washington Post. I have indicated my favorite parts:

Indiana congressman Mark Souder (R) decided to resign his seat after anonymous tipsters began calling aides in his office and his opponents in a Republican primary, claiming he was having an affair with a part-time staffer, according to three sources familiar with the calls.

Last week, after he won the primary, Souder admitted the allegations to his chief of staff, Renee Howell, who confronted the conservative Christian congressman about the rumors that he was having an extra-marital affair with Tracey Meadows Jackson, according to a source in the office. ...

The affair began after Jackson was hired in a part-time role in 2004, according to a source knowledgeable about the relationship. Jackson, who is married, was hired to play guest host with Souder for a daily radio spot he recorded for WFCV, a Christian radio station in Ft. Wayne. The spots were taped once a week and aired daily. Jackson played host, asking Souder questions about what he was working on in Washington for his constituents. ...

Jackson was also hired to play host for a local cable access show Souder had at one point. The show served as a platform for Souder to discuss conservative issues dear to him. Jackson has also helped produce numerous videos of Souder's speeches and positions, including one in which they discussed his strong support for teen abstinence.

Less than a week before the Republican primary election, anonymous callers phoned some of the Republican candidates running against Souder, with allegations that he was regularly meeting a girlfriend for romantic trysts in state parks. One alleged that he and a staffer went together late at night to the remote and heavily-forested Robinson Lake boat launch in Whitley County. ...

The public revelations about Souder come two weeks after he survived a serious primary challenge from car dealer Bob Thomas, who spent considerable sums of his own money on the race. Souder won the primary with less than 50 percent of the vote. Thomas and another candidates trailed far behind.

* * *

Okay. I love that he was nearly beaten by a "car dealer." Not to offend any car dealers out there. It just strikes me as funny.

I love that he was having romantic trysts in state parks. For one thing, could he not have found a state park outside his own district? Like somewhere in Pennsylvania where no one would have recognized him? The second thought I had was, how cheap is this guy? He won't even spring for a hotel room? I don't think that is sending a good message to the teens he wants to remain abstinent. Or maybe he got the idea while on a school visit? The mind boggles.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Every Monday night the children's librarian at the branch hosts Family Fun Night. They do different stuff each week - board games, making stuff out of pipe cleaners, Shrinky Dinks, etc. Marra's Family Fun Night tonight was Instrument Playground where the Friends of the Philharmonic come with different instruments and kids get to try them out.

I had mentioned to Marra's volunteer Hwa earlier in the evening that I used to play clarinet. As it turned out, the person who normally comes to demonstrate the clarinet was not here, and apparently Hwa revealed my secret to Marra, so Marra came running out and pretty pleased me into sitting at the woodwind table and helping kids with the clarinet. So instead of sitting at the children's desk signing kids on to the computer, I got to go play the clarinet and help kids try to make noise with it! :)

It was lots of fun. They had a table of percussion with all different kinds of special effects noisemakers, a flute and clarinet at the woodwind table, a cornet and trombone at the brass table, and some violins and a cello at the string table. Some of the kids came back several times to try an instrument again. One little boy was so serious, just concentrating very hard! Some kids had trouble getting the clarinet to make any noise, but some got it right away and a few had good sound quality. I tried to encourage everyone and the ones who would come back to try again I would trill notes for while they blew through the clarinet. They really seemed to like that.

Marra said one little boy told her the clarinet was his favorite. The first time he tried to blow he let out this gigantic squawk that made him jump, and he thought that was cool. :) A lot of kids left rubbing their lips because the vibration felt funny. And we doused the mouthpiece in Listerine between kids, so they all hated the taste. I told them it doesn't normally taste like that. :)

Saturday, May 15, 2010

I just saw an online report that NBC is canceling Law & Order!!!!!! It is in its 20th season, tying it with Gunsmoke for the longest running tv series EVER. Of course, they have SVU, but it's just not the same. I never really bonded with Elliott. And rumor has it they will be starting a L&O: Los Angeles, but based on a 7th season L&O I just watched where they went to LA to get blood from a suspect, that series might be rather annoying.

L&O has not been the same since Jerry Orbach left, of course. Lennie, how I miss you!

My favorite cast was Jerry Orbach as officer Lennie, Benjamin Bratt as officer Rey Curtis (never good on the witness stand), Sam Waterston as DA Jack McCoy, and Angie Harmon as tough-as-nails DA Abbie Carmichael. She never took any crap. :)

Kind of interesting... the Internet Movie Database lists how many episodes each actor appeared in. S. Epatha Merkerson, Lt. Anita Van Buren, has the most at 391, followed by Sam Waterston at 368, and Jerry Orbach at 274. Merkerson made an early appearance as the mother of a shooting victim, and Orbach as a defense attorney before they nabbed their ongoing characters.

Okay, so I am a little L&O obsessed. Is that a bad thing?

One of my favorite episodes is the one where Frances Conroy played a nun who was on trial. The acting was superb and she just glowed in the role. The same actress also played in season one a rich dominatrix guilty of the murder of one of her submissives.

Another favorite is the one where the homeless guy kills people with a sword and it turns out he has a law degree and is schizophrenic and off his meds and he defends himself - beautifully acted. That actor was in another episode where he played a leader of a militia who were trying to separate themselves from the United States.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

I finally got my driver's license. You may recall I went to the BMV to get my updated one and was told that because I had a photocopy of the marriage license instead of the original, I could not get a new license. The original went in the mail to get my passport.

So I waited until my new passport arrived and there was no marriage license with it. Kevin went down to the courthouse and got a new copy of the marriage license, which then, of course, arrived in the mail with my old passport the next day (but he still gets points).

So I went back to the BMV with my new marriage license and my other 4 pieces of documentation and NO ONE asked to see anything but the license! After I dug through my files to find two utility bills and my birth certificate and made sure to have my new social security and passport paperwork with me. And this is for the new supposedly "secure" i.d. I know I feel safer.

I also have a new crappy photo that makes me look like a serial killer. Oh, well. At least I don't have to renew until 2015.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Kevin and I spent our honeymoon working on the dining room. This was my idea, since we didn't have money to take a trip. It was a lot of hard work and involved much climbing up and down step ladders, hot steamers, scrapers, sticky fingers, sanding, dust, patching, etc etc etc. But once we got that first coat of paint on top, we both heaved a sigh of relief. Here's the slideshow:

Monday, April 12, 2010

So I went to the BMV and they would not give me a new license because the marriage license I had was a photocopy and not the original. When I explained the original had been taken by the post office to get my passport renewed, they simply did not care, even though I had the name change receipt from the social security office and my passport receipt from the post office. Not good enough. She told me I would have to go to the courthouse and get another certified copy of my marriage license, which I would have to pay for.

She also told me even though the website says you have to have your license within 30 days of the name change event, you don't. So the BMV can wait until I get my original documents back from the post office in 4-6 weeks. I'm sure I won't run into any problems when I go back in, mmm hmm.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

So I have to change my name since I got married. I had to wait for my certified marriage license to come in the mail before I could do anything, and that took a week. Then I had to go to the social security office to apply for a new social security card, but I could not put my middle name on it because it would knock my new last name off line one and the clerk did not know if it would print two lines and apparently there was no one in the world to ask because I asked her if she could check on it but gravity was keeping her in her chair. She told me it would be 1-2 weeks before I would receive my new card in the mail.

Then I went to the post office to apply for a new passport. I had to fill out the form and have my photo taken, which was fine because my first passport photo sucked bigtime, and then I had to pay about $100 to get everything processed. I will have to wait 4-6 weeks for that to arrive.

So I went to the BMV website to see what I needed to change my name on my driver's license, and after clicking through a hundred screens - because the answer you need promises to be on the next page - it seemed I needed to get a new driver's license within 30 days of the name-change event, i.e. wedding, and I need to bring a social security card and passport. Hmm, my math skills have always been fuzzy, but I don't think I'm gonna get that passport in time.

So I called the BMV to find out about this and was told I can bring my birth certificate (which proves I exist on this planet), my social security card application receipt (which proves I have applied to change my name), my marriage license (which proves there was an event), my most recent pay stub (which proves I have an address), AND a utility bill (which verifies the address). And I will get to wait in line and then it will be mailed to me! NEAT!

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Oh. My. God. This will turn out to be a long post because I am going to totally steal someone else's post and put it here because I loved it so much.

For all you Twilight haters out there... You'll love this game.

ComicsAlliance's Twilight Drinking Game

With this week's release of the first "Twilight" graphic novel and the truly hilarious trailer for "Eclipse," it's become increasingly apparent that this whole "Twilight" thing is planning on sticking around for the foreseeable future. And when ComicsAlliance Senior Writer Chris Sims actually read "Twilight" and liveblogged the experience, it became equally apparent that there was no way he was getting through this book sober.

Let's face facts here, folks: "Twilight" is not very good, but at this point, if you want to keep your fingers on the pulse of the pop culture community, familiarity with it is almost a requirement. That's why we've taken it upon ourselves to combine the first installment of the Twilight saga with the one thing that might almost get it to make sense: heavy drinking! Just pour a glass of your favorite adult beverage and read along, but be warned: If you actually do this, you will probably die, and you will definitely remember less about the book when it's over than when you started.

Stephenie Meyer offers a glowing, over-the-top description of how smart Bella is (i.e., having read every single book in the library by the age of 16) despite the fact that she's roughly as dumb as a bag of hammers in the actual story.

Bella does something that sets feminism back by a decade, including (but not limited to) claiming she's too weak and clumsy to bother trying to fight off rapists, asking permission to think, apologizing for getting attacked by a vampire, and slipping immediately into blind obedience when a guy she's been on .5 dates with orders her to do things she doesn't particularly want to do.

Bella's got a great future ahead of her at the Nuremberg war crimes trials.

Meyer references another work of literature like "Romeo & Juliet" or "Wuthering Heights" so you'll understand the subtlety she's trying to craft when she has characters actually say things like "I am dangerous for you to love!"

You see the word "chagrin."

You see the word "dazzle."

No one has used the word "dazzle" this much since Chris Claremont set the record in the spring of '80.

The book goes out of its way to avoid showing anything resembling action that would advance the plot, to the point where there's a fight between good vampires and evil vampires going on, but the narrative follows Bella as she mopes around a hotel room three states away.

TAKE TWO DRINKS WHEN...

Bella is rendered unconscious at the climax of the novel, meaning that she gets the life-changing events related to her later in the ultimate violation of the "show, don't tell" rule.

A character displays great affection for Bella despite the fact that she spends most of her time yelling at her dad like she's angling for a spot on Maury's next "My Kid Is Out Of Control!" special and doing absolutely nothing to engender positive feelings in anyone (least of all the reader).

Meyer brings it back a second time for all the slow kids in the audience.

Meyer spends the majority of a chapter recapping the previous chapter like a fifth-grader trying to meet the length requirement for a book report.

Edward brags about how strong and dangerous he is, rather than doing anything that would be considered even remotely strong or dangerous.

Edward sets off one of the Abusive Relationship Warning Signs, including...

-Does your partner check-up on you by calling, driving by, or getting someone else to? -Does your partner blame you for his problems or his bad mood? -Does your partner drive dangerously, or do other things to scare you? -Have you lost friends or no longer see some of your family because of your partner? -Are you afraid of your partner or afraid to break up?

FINISH YOUR GLASS when:

He does five of the above in one chapter.

You finish a chapter that does absolutely nothing to advance the plot.

The driving conflict of the book finally arrives after 350 pages.

You hit a chapter that reads like it was lifted verbatim from LiveJournal.

Current Mood: D:

When you hit the one part of the book that's actually not bad (Page 414, paragraph 3 of the MMPB edition)

When the vampires do something that actually sounds exciting, and Bella acts like something other than a cardboard cutout whose only emotions are petulance and co-dependence.

Nah, just kiddin' about that last one. It never happens. The rest of them, however... well, you may want to apologize to your liver before you get started.

Taken from: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/03/17/twilight-drinking-game/

Sometimes my eyes do not see what is actually there. Take, for instance, the young adults blog headline I read this morning: Live Action Glue Game.

Now, this caught my attention. Glue Game? What's that? I imagined kids running around the room sniffing glue, putting it on their arms and in their hair, etc.

It actually said Live Action Clue Game. Ohhhhh. That actually makes a lot more sense.

Does that ever happen to you? Is it part of getting old? Because it seems to happen to me a LOT, especially with book titles. I have seen some really interesting book titles thanks to my brain malfunction. I should start keeping a list.

In the morgue, they save the rags used to clean up liquids from decomposed bodies to help train cadaver-hunting dogs. Scientists have also studied the odor of bodily decay so they can better develop synthetic sprays for use in riot control.

Men are at least twice as likely as women to be alcoholics and three times more likely to be drug addicts.

When you habitually get less sleep than you need each night, your risk of having an accident or developing heart disease, cancer, diabetes, memory problems, or depression begins to increase. As a general rule, if you tend to sleep late on weekends or always need an alarm to wake you, you might be sleep-deprived.

Monday, March 15, 2010

We went to see Willie Nelson in concert tonight at the Embassy. You may be thinking, huh, Willie Nelson? Am I on the right blog? Lisa said to me, "Do you like country music?" No, not particularly, but I like Willie Nelson! I don't consider him country. He's country, blues, bluegrass, folk, gospel, spiritual, standards.

Well, he was totally awesome! He came out and played one song right after the other, no breaks, no intermission, and there were only about 5 or 6 songs I had never heard before. He sang Crazy (made famous by Patsy Cline), Georgia on My Mind, Angels Flying Too Close to the Ground, Always on My Mind, All of Me, Mama Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys (which my dad used to sing when we went on boat trips when I was a kid). We smiled, we clapped, we sang along.

Willie would put a handkerchief on his head and wear it for a while and then throw it out to the crowd. At the end of the concert he walked all along the front row and shook everyone's hands. It was just the coolest thing! :) Yaay! :)

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Marra has introduced me to the world of Shrinky Dinks and I will never be the same. I had never done Shrinky Dinks before. The closest thing were these kind of stained glass things you melted in your oven that made your whole house smell like burning plastic, which it probably was. But Shrinky Dinks are amazing. I must purchase Shrinky Dink paper immediately. My brain is whirring with all kinds of evil Shrinky Dink ideas. Bwah hah hah!!!!!

Queen Latifah - HIT!I love Queen Latifah, so I may be biased, but I think she looks elegant and feminine and the cut of the gown is very flattering to her figure.

Penelope Cruz - hit She knows how to work a dress.

Miley Cyrus - skinny!I don't know whether or not I like the dress. I am distracted by her 10" waist.

Mariska Hargitay - hit!

Mariah Carey - hitNow, they are rating this dress as a miss and gave her an F for style, but really, this is the best she's looked at an awards show in forever. She is tastefully covered and I love the color.

Kristen StewartWell, it is a hit, but they gave her an A+. I don't see A+ because she doesn't know how to stand or have the confidence to really pull it off completely.

Jennifer Lopez - hitI really like this one. The foof on the side is almost too much, but not quite.

Helen Mirren - hit!She looks classy.

Gabourey Sidibe - hitI would have rather had the stuff on the waist or the bodice but not both.

Faith Hill - miss!I give this a big "What was she thinking?"

Charlize Theron - missWhat gives with the swirlies on the boobs?

Cameron Diaz - hit!It is so nice to see her glammed up again like she used to be when she started in the business, a la The Mask with Jim Carrey.

Anna Kendrick - hitI like the dress but not the color. These beigey-nude dresses that blend in the the flesh are so unappealing to me.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Friday, February 26, 2010

I also have a fondness for Flash Gordon. Probably a lot of it has to do with the soundtrack by Queen ~ "Flash! Ahhh! Savior of the universe!"

OHMIGOD! I'd forgotten just how wonderful that movie is! The flying men... the laser blasts... the bare chest of Flash back before every guy in Hollywood had a six pack. Wow. The awesomeness of this movie cannot be denied.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Okay, so who remembers the original stop~action, dare I say "classic" film Clash of the Titans, with a young and hunky Harry Hamlin (I thought he was hot stuff back then) fighting off clay monsters and trying to save the girl? I do! It's actually one of my favorite films, despite the mish mash of Greek mythology, hammy acting, and dated special effects. I actually like the stop action clay critters and the wide~eyed did~she~ever~work~again Andromeda acting alongside such greats as Maggie Smith and Laurence Olivier.

So I'm not sure what to think about this new version coming out. The preview I just saw on tv looked pretty lame but I found one on Youtube that looked much more action~packed and interesting. So let's do a trailer~to~trailer comparison and vote. :)

The new one:

The original:

And I found an "updated" version of the 1981 trailer that actually makes the movie look somewhat interesting. :)

I really feel that the original trailer gives you a better sense of the cheesiness of the film, though.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

I was playing the Freekibble daily trivia question (answer right or wrong and you donate food to dogs ad cats in shelters), and today's question was what is the word record for the fastest time a dog unrolled a car window - not the automatic kind, but one you have to wind the crank on. A Border Collie named Striker holds the record for the fastest a dog has unwound a non-electric car window: 11.34 seconds!

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Have any of you ever read Lurlene McDaniel? She has such sunny teen titles as:

Don't Die, My LoveMother, Please Don't DieTelling Christina GoodbyeThe Girl Death Left behindAll the Days of Her LifeLet Him LiveMother, Help Me LiveMourning SongReach for TomorrowA Season for GoodbyeShe Died Too YoungSixteen and DyingSomeone Dies, Someone LivesA Time to Die

Etc. I was weeding our paperbacks this week and came across many of these cheery books. It made me want to go out and eat something with protein, like a big steak. I had to wash my hands, too. I felt all syrupy and sad for some reason. Lisa calls her the Angel of Death author.

I felt the need to make snarky remarks.

All the Days of Her Life (which undoubtedly won't be many)Mother, Help Me Live (and then you can die in a different book)Reach for Tomorrow (but it won't matter because you're in a Lurlene McDaniel book)Someone Dies, Someone Lives (but mostly they die)

Etc.

Some of the book covers are amazing, too.

The big blue eyes and clean-scrubbed face...

I love the snarl on her face. She's obviously heading for trouble, and a motorcycle crash.

After playing sappy guitar music and staring longingly out the window.

But I can't because I am in a Lurlene McDaniel book.

It's like being a relative of Jessica Fletcher on Murder, She Wrote. You dread the letter saying old Aunt Jessie is coming to visit because you just know you're going to end up in jail for a murder you didn't commit. Holy crap, I'm in a Lurlene McDaniel book - my days are numbered!

Are there any special books or book covers that have stuck in your mind through the years, for reasons good or bad?

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Melissa recently had on her blog a question for the best romantic movies to share with her husband. So I want to know, what are the worst movies you've ever seen? Not the ones that are so bad they're funny, but the ones that were just plain suckfests.

On my list is The Sweetest Thing. We went to see it on a Girls Night Out and the four of us sat through the whole thing and never once laughed. None of us wanted to be the one to say it was terrible in case someone else was enjoying it. That's an hour and a half of my life I will never get back.

The street is seriously named Electric Avenue and every year these two houses vie for the most decorations. I think this one is the clear winner because the other house had a bunch of those blow-up things in the yard and most were half-deflated and kind of sad looking. :)